Guide for printing-machines.



Patented oct, 11, i910.v f

, M. 11. MANN. f v r GUIDE POB PRINTING MAGHREBt v I APPLICATION FILED HAY 8, 1310.

*UNITED sTaTEs PATENT yoraronv HILESH. MANN, OF LOUISIANA,VMSVSOURI, ASSIGNOR T BUFFUM TOOL COIMIZPBJY,v

' 0F LOUISIANA, MISSOURI, A; CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

n ,GUIDE ron PRINTING-MACHINES.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, MILES H. MANN, av

citizen of the United States, residing at Louisiana, Missoula, have invented a certamV y 4as will enable others skilledin' the art -to which it appcrtains tomake and use the same. v l v a VThis invention relates to machines for 'printing cards, labels, envelops,fand other articles, and particularlyA to the guides or gates used in such machines for controlling the feed of the bottom card or article of a pile from the ones above it during the operation of feeding said bottom article to the printing mechanism ofthe machine. The guides or' rates which have heretofore been used for this purpose were so constructed that they could be adjusted"v to vary the space between the lower edge `o1" same and the bed plate of the machine but they could not yield or move upwardly to accommodate irregu lar-shaped articles or articles that were more `or less uneven. Consequently, such guides or gates could not be used successfully for vcontrolling thc feed of booklets and small pamphlets because the staples or devices which fasten 'the leaves of such articles to-k gether make the back or rear edge of sameV a uneven or of varying thickness. i

The main object of my present invention Yis to provide a guide or gate for printing machines which is -so designedthat it will f yield or move upwardly slightly in case the derneath same is irregular or of varyingV thickness. And still another object is' to provide a printing machine having a fee-'lcontrolling guide or gate which 1s so dcsigned that it will successfully govern the` feed of booklets, pamphlets andY similar articles and prevent .such articlesfrom catching on the platen of the machine when they are being fed to the printing mechanism.

Fi ure 1 of the dravvingsk is a vertical sec tiona view of a portion of a printing ma- Application iledMay 6, 1910. Serial No. 559,693.

chiney provided With a guide or gate" con'.

structed accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the yoke which carries the guide, said view being taken on vapproximately the line`2-2 of Fig. '1; Fig. 3l is atop planl view of the' members YQ specification of Letters raient. kPatented Oct. 11,1910. j i i shown in Fig. 2; Fig. is a horizontal secl Referring. to the Vdrawings which illustrate ytional view taken on approximately the line n fl-e4 of Fig. 2;k and F ig. 5 is a vertical secf tional view taken onapproximately the line .5-5 of Fig. 2.

the preferred form of my present invention,

A designates the bed plate of the machine, B theY platen, and C the printing mechanism arrangedrauove the platen. Thepile Dk of booklets, pamphlets, or other articles being operated on, 1s arranged on the bed plate in I front of a. guide or gate LE which controls the feed ofthe bottom article of the pile from the ones above it during the operay tion of feeding said bottom article onto the platen B, the feeding mechanismof the machine herein. shown consisting of feeding fingers 1 -Which project upwardly through slots in the bed plate, as shown in Fig. 1. Y

T he guide E consists of an approximately horizontally arranged wing that is provided with a vertically disposed shank 2 which is shdingly mounted in a groove formed in. a

yoke. F that' is securelyconnccted .to the bed plate, and means is yprovided for adjusting 'the'guide Evertically relatively to the bed plate so as to accommodate thin or'thick articles.v The meansl herein shown for adjusting the guide E consistsof a--horizontally arrangedshaft 3 journaled in the yoke F and provided at its inner end with an eccent1-icallyfdisposed pin 3a which projects 'Y 95 I4 on the guide VE,as shown in Fig. 1. Any f suitable means can be provided for locking into a slot; in the upper end of a standard the guide E in itsV adjusted position but I refer to provide the yoke F with a clamp- Ing block 5 -which can be forced into intimateengagement with the shank 2 on the v guide by means of a screw 6 which is alsof journaled in the yoke F.

sof.`

They gui'de'aE is providedy with a movable plate or poi j Twhose lower edge is norfrom the bed plate a mally spacco awa distance equal to t e thickness of the booklets being operated on, and lsaid plate is arranged in such aV manner that it can yield `or move upwardly slightly so as to aelio ing engagement with the vertical shank 2 of the guide E and is connected to said shank by means of a screw S carried by the shank 2 and passing through `an elongated slot 1u .the plate T, said screw hai-'ing a head that prevents the plate from moving forwardly or away from the verticalA shank of the guide E. Pins 9 on the guide project into elongated slots 10 in the plate 7 so as to hold the lower edge of said plate lparallel with the bed plate of the machine, and these pins also act as stops to limit the. downward portion movement of the plate or movable iich 1S of the 0fuide. yA leaf-spring 11, w carriedliy the pins 12 on the plate 7 so as to exert downward pressure on saidy plate and thus hold the lower edge of same normally spaced away from the bed plate a distance equal to the approximate thickness of the booklets in thek pile D but it will, of course, be obvious vthatbther means could be employed for holding the plate 7' in normal position, or, as previously stated, gravityk could be relied upon to hold said plate down.

T he horizontally disposed portion vof the guide E is deflected upwardly from the bed plate slightly, asshown in F ig. 1, so that the space between the rear edge of same and the bed plate will be greater than the space between the bed plate and the lower edge of the movable plate 7, and a pluralityot yielding fingers 13, which preferably con sist of pieces of spring wire, are connected to the under side of the horizontal portion of the guide so as to exert downward pressure on the booklets after they have passed under the controlling plate 7 and thus prevent said booklets from rising or passing out of control of the feed fingers 1 when said fingers are feeding the booklets onto the platen, the underside of the guide E being provided i with grooves that permit the spring fingers 13 to move upwardly far enough not to obstruct the passage of the booklet onto the laten.

A feed-control ing guide or gate of the construction above describedk permits bookletsk and other irregular or uneven articles to be fed successfully from a pile because the plate or movableportion 7 of the guide will yield or move upwardly slightly and thus permit the articles to pass under same.

he lower edge of the plate I is normally spaced away from the bed plate a distance yoke F, engages shoulders or.

equal to the approximate thickness of the articles being operated oii'so that only the bott-oni article of the pile can bc fed from` platen is much greater than the thickness of the articles. t

lVhile I have herein shown my guide applied to a printing machine I do not wish it. to

be understood that itis limited to this specific l use for it could be used in combination with various other mechanism or apparatus such, for example, as cutting machines. Further more, I do not wish it to be understood thatl my guide is limited to use in a machine in which the articles are fed over a horizontal surface for it could be used equally well for controlling the feed of articles that more in a vertical planefor in an inclined plane and therefore the terms horizontal and V vertical and similar expressions which appear in the specification and claims should not be construed as limitations as these terms are only used relatively and with reference to the particular type of machine herein shown.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A guide or gate for controlling the feed of the bottom article of a pile from the ones above it, comprising an approximately hori zontally disposed portion provided on its under side with yielding fingers, and a yielding plate arranged at the front end of saidY guide and normally rojecting below the lower edge of the guidri. v

2. A guide or gate for the purpose described comprising an approximately horizontally disposed portion provided on its t under side with yielding fingers, means for raising and lowering said horizontally disposed portion, and a spring-actuated plate arranged at the front end of said guide and having its lower edge normally projecting below the horizontally disposed portion of tically adjustable guide on said yoke provided With an approximately horizontally y disposed portion, and a rigid plate movably v tically adJustable guide on` said yoke' promounted on said guide and arranged at the f i'ontend of said horizontally. disposed perf i tion, said plate projecting below the lower edge of said horizontally disposed portion.l

5. In a lmachine of the character de scribed, a yoke or supporting member, avervided with an approximately horizontally disposed portion, a movable plate arranged at the front end of said horizontally disposed portion and projecting below the lower edge of saine, yielding means for exerting downward pressure on said plate, and means for guiding said plate.

G. A guide for the purpose vdescribedpi com risiii r a Yoke 0r su J iortinofy member a horizontally disposed guide provided with g y a shank that slides in a groove in said4 yoke, means carried by said yoke for adjusting said guide vertically, a vertically mov able plate slidingly mounted von said shank,

and yielding means carried by said yoke arranged inadvance ofsaid platen and hav- *i 'Y ing its rear edge lying in a higher horizont-al plane than thek top face of the platen, yielding'ngers on the under side of said guide,

and a yielding plate arrangedat the front projecting below the horizontally disposed guide carried by said yoke and `having its` rear edge terminating adjacent the platen, yielding fingers on the `for exerting downward pressure on saidA plate.

l. In a printing machine, aplaten, an approximately horizontally disposed guide under side of said guide, means on said yoke for raising and vlowering said guide, a movable plate `arranged at the front end of said guide and having its lower edge projecting 1 45 below the guide, and yielding -means on the yoke for exerting downward pressure on said plate.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signaturein the presence of two witnesses,

' this 2nd day of" May 1910.

Y `lVitnesses': *e

A. M. McGrEE,V Y ALBERT WAMSLEY.

,Y MILES H. MANN. 

